Tory candidate suspended for anti-Muslim posts on social media. Is the BBC Local Democracy Reporter Scheme claiming its first victim?

A Tory council candidate in Hoxton, Hackney has been suspended for “anti-Muslim” posts on social media. We learn about this from GoV via The Hackney Citizen.

It would seem that Tory candidate Alexander van Terheyden sinned by attending a Tommy Robinson rally, pointing out on Facebook the that Islam could be a “violent political ideology” on par with fascism and communism, and that the Crusades were a response to the practices of Islam spreading its ideology through Europe via the sword.

In a statement yesterday The Hackney Conservative Federation, said:

“Yesterday, we were forwarded an email from Adam Barnett of the Hackney Citizen regarding posts made by Alex van Terheyden on social media….

“We were unaware of these posts and are urgently investigating this matter…

“Mr van Terheyden’s membership of the Conservative Party has been suspended with immediate effect.”

Ok, so much of this is par for the course. The uni-party mind that is British politics (Torys=Labour), thinks Tommy Robinson equals Enoch Powell equals Benito Mussolini equals Adolf Hitler. All the same, and all far-far-far-right. Simple. Therefore, anyone who even mentions Tommy Robinson, or Enoch Powell is an evil Nazi. OK we get it.

So, it may be that the real story here concerns the person from whom the denouncing email emanated. That is, one “Adam Barnett Local Democracy Reporter”.

What’s that when it’s at home anyway?

I always read the comments on blogs and this one clarified things for me (thank you to Jen L. Jones). She says:

It could be that this article is one result of the “BBC Local Democracy Reporter Scheme” – set up last year, I discovered. I searched for “Adam Barnett” and found he appears to be more of an activist than a journalist. He retweeted about this article three days ago on his Twitter account but so far has not generated any interest.

This “Local Democracy Reporter Scheme” (which I’d never heard of and which sounds Orwellian) apparently has power and control as its motivation. Here’s the link:

“James Harding, director of BBC News and Current Affairs, said it would strengthen local news coverage. ‘As more power is devolved across the UK, it’s more important than ever that we cover, understand and hold to account local politicians and public services,’ he said.”

So, it appears that the BBC feared being out-of-touch in certain localities and sent out its recruits to report back to the Politburo (sorry, BBC headquarters) in order to “enhance democracy.” (I’m not making this up.) Adam Barnett did his bit and followed through by informing the Hackney Conservative Federation about its candidate’s opinions on the ideology of Islam and the Crusades which resulted from centuries of Islamic aggression. Then he wrote an article on all of it and sent it to the Mothercorp so it could keep track of the rumblings coming from the common man.

It’s a real eye-opener to realize that in modern day Britain “defending the Crusades” can result in one’s removal as candidate for political office.

22 Apr 2018Howard NelsonThe moral of the story: The truth will be banned and its speaker also banned or canned, if not caned.

22 Apr 2018Jen L. JonesSince posting that comment I've had a couple of other thoughts on this.
One is that this Local Democracy Reporter Scheme is of course all funded by the British taxpayer—something to think about when only one set of opinions is held to be valid.
Then, if the BBC is so intent on holding local politicians and public services to account, where was it when the grooming gang scandals were first emerging into the news? In fact, where was the BBC before that when local councils, social workers, and police were laying the groundwork for a massive cover-up? Where can we see the efforts of the BBC to "enhance democracy" in the sad saga of those atrocities? Remember that a democratic state ensures that all citizens are afforded equal rights—except if you're a young working class Christian girl sexually groomed by Pakistani Muslim males in modern day Britain, apparently.
This new-found enthusiasm for "enhancing democracy" could potentially be used to justify all kinds of intrusions into the personal freedoms of the ordinary Brit. This "scheme" and its sinister implications bears watching. Ironically, the BBC apparently didn't take into account that in North America "scheme" usually implies a devious motivation.